This year’s festival presents plays about the human condition

By Georgia Temple Entertainment Editor

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, August 27, 2011

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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The pirates, from left, (Max Stanley) (George Melonakis) and (Alexander Mancha) celebrate after kidnapping Marina (Vanessa Hernandez), Friday during a scene from "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram less

The pirates, from left, (Max Stanley) (George Melonakis) and (Alexander Mancha) celebrate after kidnapping Marina (Vanessa Hernandez), Friday during a scene from "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka ... more

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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Pericles (Ryan Schabach), from left, receives a toast from the knights, (Alexander Mancha), (James Lewailen) and (George Melonakos), Friday during rehearsals for "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram less

Pericles (Ryan Schabach), from left, receives a toast from the knights, (Alexander Mancha), (James Lewailen) and (George Melonakos), Friday during rehearsals for "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka ... more

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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Cerimon (George Melonakos) watches the reunification of Pericles (Ryan Schabach) and Thaisa (Jami Witt) during a scene from "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

Cerimon (George Melonakos) watches the reunification of Pericles (Ryan Schabach) and Thaisa (Jami Witt) during a scene from "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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Pandaz (Brian Mullholland), from left, examines Marina (Vanessa Hernandez) who is being sold by Boult (William Groth) and Bawd (Ambree McDonald), Friday during rehearsals for "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram less

Pandaz (Brian Mullholland), from left, examines Marina (Vanessa Hernandez) who is being sold by Boult (William Groth) and Bawd (Ambree McDonald), Friday during rehearsals for "Pericles" at the Globe Theatre. ... more

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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Mrs. Antrobus (Kathryn Graybill) screams at the candidate who defeated her husband for president of the Distinguished Order of Mammals, Friday during rehearsals for "The Skin of our Teeth" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram less

Mrs. Antrobus (Kathryn Graybill) screams at the candidate who defeated her husband for president of the Distinguished Order of Mammals, Friday during rehearsals for "The Skin of our Teeth" at the Globe Theatre. ... more

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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In this scene from "The Skin of our Teeth" the Antrobus family gathers around to see Mr. Antrobus' (William Goth) new invention and listen as his son Henry (Alexander Mancha) comes up with ideas for the use of the wheel. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram less

In this scene from "The Skin of our Teeth" the Antrobus family gathers around to see Mr. Antrobus' (William Goth) new invention and listen as his son Henry (Alexander Mancha) comes up with ideas for the use of ... more

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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In this scene from "The Skin of our Teeth," Mrs Antrobus (Kathryn Graybill) cleans makeup off of her daughter, Gladys (Jocelyn Mosman), before her father returns. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

In this scene from "The Skin of our Teeth," Mrs Antrobus (Kathryn Graybill) cleans makeup off of her daughter, Gladys (Jocelyn Mosman), before her father returns. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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Sabina (Jami Witt) frets the return of Mr. Antrobus, Friday during a scene from "The Skin of our Teeth" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

Sabina (Jami Witt) frets the return of Mr. Antrobus, Friday during a scene from "The Skin of our Teeth" at the Globe Theatre. Cindeka Nealy/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Cindeka Nealy

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This year’s festival presents plays about the human condition

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This season’s Shakespeare Festival at the Globe Theatre features The Bard’s “Pericles,” Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth” and “The Little Prince.”

“Our theme is ‘Shakespeare meets Star Wars.’ Not that we are doing a ‘Star Wars’ production by any means, but the theme this year centers around epic stories of the human condition,” said Anthony Ridley, artistic director. “And all three stories include these epic journeys that people take through time and space.”

Published in 1943, “The Little Prince” is French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s most famous novella. The work has been translated into more than 190 languages and sold more than 80 million copies.

“The Little Prince travels from planet to planet to planet meeting people and discovering some truth about the human condition, which he then relays to his aviator he finds stranded in the Sahara Desert,” said Ridley. “Pericles encounters a situation in Antioch where he almost gets himself killed, so he runs from that situation. What ensues is a lifelong journey around the Mediterranean going from place to place, ship wreck to ship wreck. In a nutshell he runs into danger, escapes that danger, meets his wife, gets separated from wife and child and continues his journey until finally united with wife and child.”

Wilder received the Pulitzer Price for Drama for “The Skin of Our Teeth,” which opened Oct. 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Conn., before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on Nov. 18, 1942. The main characters of the play are George and Maggie Antrobus, their two children, Henry and Gladys, and Sabina, who appears as the family’s maid in the first and third acts and as a beauty queen temptress in the second act. The play’s action takes place in a modern setting, but is full of anachronisms reaching back to prehistoric times.

“ ‘By the Skin of Our Teeth’ has a lot of humor in it,” Ridley said. “The actors are breaking character and talking to the audience and complaining to the audience. It’s just a free-for-all and has a lot of what I think is hysterically funny humor.”